The video shows the woman hovering near the bag display before stuffing the backpack into a big blue tote bag she had slung over her right shoulder. At one point, the woman even briefly looked up at the surveillance camera.
So I had a whole bunch of people ask me to post the video on line of the woman who stole the Vera Bradley bag. So here it is. If you know who she is, please report her to the police in Manasquan. Thanks!
Posted by White Bliss on Sunday, September 6, 2015
MANASQUAN -- Nothing much gets past Anne Sauri at her Manasquan boutique.
When she recently noticed an expensive designer backpack missing from its usual spot, she did some sleuthing then checked her store's surveillance video.
Sure enough, not long into the footage she saw where the bag went: into the tote bag of a shoplifter.
Now with the help of some loyal customers on Facebook, Sauri and police said, Manasquan detectives are close to arresting a suspect.
Sauri, owner of the White Bliss Boutique, said the unknown woman walked in to the store on Saturday about a half hour after the 10 a.m. opening and began browsing around, first looking at the jewelry display on the counter while Sauri was on the other side of the counter.
She remembers watching the woman wander into the second half of the store and browse through more items. After about 15 minutes, the woman left without buying anything.
As part of her usual routine, Sauri walked around the store about 10 minutes later to straighten up. That's when, she said, she noticed the $108 Vera Bradley backpack missing.
Sauri said she knows everything that's in that 1,500 square foot shop because she orders all the merchandise and spends most of her days in the store.
"I'm here seven days a week. I feel like it's part of my house," Sauri said.
At first she thought someone bought it, so she asked one of her employees, who told Sauri she hadn't sold it. She also walked around the store checking out the other customers. Maybe one of them had it in hand to buy it but wasn't finished shopping yet, she figured. But that wasn't the case either, she said.
So she went to the video. That's where she saw the shopper, a woman dressed in a jogging outfit with sneakers, a blue short skirt and a racer back T-shirt and bra top.
The video shows the woman hovering near the bag display before stuffing the backpack into a big blue tote bag she had slung over her right shoulder. At one point, the woman even briefly looked up at the surveillance camera, Sauri said. She even went back to the display to rearrange the backs so that the gap from the missing Vera Bradley backpack wasn't so noticeable.
But Sauri noticed.
"It floored me. We've had people steal from us before...but to be that blatant about it," Sauri said.
The woman also stole a pair of $19 sunglasses and a sink strainer with a pig on it worth about the same amount, she said. That, however, wasn't captured on the surveillance video, she said.
Sauri debated putting the video on the store's Facebook page, but in the end she decided to post it because of how nonchalant the woman was. It got more than 180,000 views. And many reactions from customers, she said.
"I had so many customers call me or message me 'I'm so sorry this happened to you,'" she said.
Sauri said Manasquan detectives told her they have a lead on a suspect from someone who saw the video on Facebook.
Manasquan police Capt. Michael Bauer said Thursday detectives have identified the woman -- thanks to tips from social media -- and that they expect to have an arrest soon.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
